


Little Red Riding Hood

by Bremmatron33



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 23:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15521067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bremmatron33/pseuds/Bremmatron33
Summary: Steeljaw doesn't have many real friends but he has enough.





	Little Red Riding Hood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Airheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airheart/gifts).



> Hope you like it Airheart another treat for you. TF summer gift exchange.

In the dark of the cave Drift and Bumblebee struggled fruitlessly against their bonds as Steeljaw ignored them. The two had been trying to goad the leader for hours, but with just himself to worry about Steeljaw might as well have been a metal wall. Immovable as he waited for the “rescue party” to arrive.

The Con had recently come into a massive amount of experimental weapons and tech so Optimus had grown suspicious that Steeljaw likely had a new informant back home. So while Windblade and had gone back to see if she could suss them out, Bee and Drift took the dirty work of getting everything back. They had clearly paid the price. Broken and numb the two were barely able to stay conscious and online and Bee was starting to doubt that even Optimus would be able to stop the two. Steeljaw had always been a tough opponent but now he seemed untouchable.

The best thing the two could think of with their addled processors was to distract him. It usually worked nine times out of ten. They could only hope to keep him talking long enough so he wouldn’t be as prepared as he wanted. So when Bee felt Drift kick him back to what little attention he could muster he tried to get Steeljaw’s attention.

“You know this is just gonna end the same way it always does right, Steeljaw.” Steeljaw simply smiled as he tied another knot of electrified cord.

“Whatever do you mean Bumblebee? I didn’t realize you were a soothsayer.”

“You’re going to lose. You always lose. You’re outnumbered and outmatched. Just let us go.” The mech was laughing now.

“How many times has that line actually worked for you commander? I’m going to guess...not many. A wise mech once told me that in games like these you only lose when you stop playing.”

Bee spared his eye roll to save energy. “And who would this mech be?” Steeljaw chuckled again, muted and uninterested.

“Oh Bee, you seem so interested in who I know. Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

“No, I think you’re obsessed. You clearly have mechs on Cybertron who support you, could have picked you up, taken you home. You don’t need to be here. You could go to some other world. Uninhabited. Start over. Why stay and fight? For the Decepticon cause? I don’t believe you really believe in it. You chose the brand as a symbol. A symbol most mechs recognize. Some mechs still rally for. I’ll be the first to say...I don’t blame them. Cybertron isn’t the world I wanted either.” Steeljaw practically barked at that.

“Sure commander. Sure. Did these feelings start before or after you became a wanted mech?” Bee refused to respond. Not out of guilt, he’d always felt horrible that mechs of Cybertron felt the need to cling to an old revolution, that any old criminal was labeled a Decepticon by law regardless of stance in the war. Sparklings, revolutionaries, mechs simply down on their luck. It made no sense other than to vilify Megatron and what he’d done in the minds of all Cybertronians. No, he chose to remain quiet because he knew it’s what Steeljaw wanted. ”Hmm, that’s what I thought. I will tell you though since you seem so interested, that Earth is a personal project and the fact that I just so happened to be shot down here was divine intervention.”

“Really, divine intervention?” It wasn’t as if Bee could talk, hadn’t he been called back to earth in the exact same way? “So Megatronus called you, you followed his orders. Look what happened? Nothing good.”

Steeljaw just sighed at the memory. “You are right. Megatronus was a mistake. I thought he would be an ally knowing his actual history but he wasn’t. I can only assume he was still somehow tainted by Liege’s magic but you only care about revisionist religion don’t you, Bumblebee?”

Steeljaw wasn’t quite right, but he was right that Bee didn’t care. “So if you’re not doing this to show your allegiance...then what are you still fighting for?”

“Whom. For the mech that made me, Commander, for the only mech in this Primus forsaken universe I trust. I owe him and I intend to repay in the only way I can. Megatronus may have called me here but he’s not the reason I started fighting.”

“Your connection back home I’m guessing? Why don’t you tell me about him?” At this point Steeljaw went silent, just working on his trap and Bee was sure he was going to get nothing. Then, Steeljaw turned to him again.

“Well...I don’t see why not. You’ll never find him and it’s not like I’m actually going to give you a name so sure. I’ll tell you a story to pass the time.” Bee watched Steeljaw pace back and forth as he looked for the tool he needed to further his plan, his tail wagging slightly in delight as he thought how to tell his tale. “It all started when I was practically a pup~”

* * *

 

Cybertron was a new, fertile land thanks to Optimus' sacrifice but that also meant that many a mecha wanted control of it. Fighting for control of it really. Not really a problem for the young new sparks just forming in the metal silt of the newly bloomed hot spots. Or it simply hadn’t been for most of them but Steeljaw hadn’t been part of the majority. His spark hadn’t even been lucky enough to land in a hot spot. Just a simple fertile patch high in the mountainous wilds.

As a bitlett just onlined the freshly forged bot didn’t know what he was doing. He wandered the wilds for weeks, searching and starving. Raw energon crystals were rare but in some caves lit up like the moon with how clustered they were with them. The only issue was that those caves were usually taken and well defended. Weak and defenseless, Steeljaw didn’t stand a chance. Thanks to it, he couldn’t remember his first cycles well only that they were painful and that near everything wanted to kill him. What he did remember was the third week of his new life and he was already guttering out. He never left the mountains, never had a chance to see the bright tower of lights that shined in the distance, never managed much of anything really. A pitiful existence that would end just the same. Steeljaw remembered offlining, for a long time likely, but when he woke up he was surrounded by soft growling and dull glowing lights.

Saberwolf pups, play fighting around him as their sires did their best to ignore them. As soon as the adults saw Steeljaw twitching with life they were on him with laving glossias and gentle paws, jaws full of liquid energon letting it cascade from their mouths to his. He coughed on it as it dribbled down his intake but the saberwolves didn’t stop till they had managed to nudge his small form all the way to the glowing pool to drink. He gorged himself till he was sick and exhausted, tanks painfully bowed and whole frame buzzing strangely. The wolves didn’t care only growling and yipping, one carefully picking him up by the thick wires of his neck and settling him back into the pile where the other pups were crowded. They were his first ever family so he did his best to become one of them. Quite an easier task then one would think.

Smaller than most of his brothers Steeljaw was the runt of the pack but they did their best to keep him safe regardless, snapping and fighting larger predators when he’d get caught on hunts and making sure that he had more energon than he could handle. Thankfully he did have his own advantage. Intelligence. As smart as the pack was, they were nothing but wild beasts so while it took ages for Steeljaw to match them in size he wasn’t the weakest by any part. Still, his sires tried their best to provide for their strange pup's needs. Barely anything but shambling wires and struts when they found him Steeljaw slowly built up armor, made from the shedded plates from his adopted pack. His meager magnetic field snatching them up and fusing them to his frame the best his systems could manage. His sires catching on that he needed much more metal they would leave Steeljaw extra corpses, refusing to clean them out till he devoured every bit of the soft metal insides. Sharp fangs shearing through the metal easily and desperate evolving frame absorbing all the precious minerals and material it satiated a hunger Steeljaw didn’t even know he had till it was gone. It wasn’t nearly enough but enough to let his alt almost match his growing brothers and for his root form to have a nice thick protoform armor. It left him strong enough to often go out on solo hunts though he barely did, not with his starving brothers hungry for their own metal to improve their frames.

It was on one hunt that Steeljaw saw the mech that would change his life forever. Time had no purpose for a bot like him at that age but he’d been with the pack for a year. Their sires rarely helped them hunt anymore, trusting their well-taught offspring enough to stay and protect their home. It gave Steeljaw and his brothers the chance to dawdle and explore. Chase comethares and wirevipers for much longer than they should simply for the fun of it.

Steeljaw had no idea where they were when he spotted him. The beautiful crimson bot. He was sitting on the sturdy branch of a tree smoking a cygarette and jabbering away into his arm. It was the first city mech Steeljaw had ever laid his optics on. His brothers, more interested in prey, of course, ignored him, happy to torment a fat glitchrat but Steeljaw was mystified. He spent so long ignoring his root form, not understanding it, almost hating it. He knew he was odd, knew he didn’t belong but the wilds were all he’d ever known. For the first time since his sires had saved him Steeljaw was suddenly interested in his root form again. Was he supposed to look like this mystery bot? He didn’t, there was barely anything to him! Was he wrong? Deformed? Was that why he was left? Abandoned?

One of his brothers eventually caught on that he was distracted and joined Steeljaw, splayed low in the grass. They couldn’t speak of course but there was understanding. The wolf could understand curiosity, desire, fear. Those were easy. Unlike Steeljaw his brother was unafraid and was happy to suddenly bound towards the stranger. Steeljaw just managed to catch him and toss him into the grass. The stranger looked up to study the rustling but didn’t seem distressed in the slightest. They went back to jabbering. Steeljaw’s brother only jeered and pawed at his face to tease him, Steeljaw bit at his snout. Unfortunately, then their brother spotted a perfect meal for the lot of them and Steeljaw had to abandon the strange mech for the hunt.

That didn’t stop his curiosity though. Steeljaw remembered the spot as the pack made their way back home and every now and then snuck back to see if he could spot the mech ever again. One day he managed.

Night had already fallen but Steeljaw had luckily found a few glitchrats to munch on when out in the brush the ground opened up and out popped the same mech he’d first seen. Brilliant red and grumpy as ever. He pulled himself out of the hatch and as his peds hit solid metal he stretched and cursed as he realigned his gears. Steeljaw carefully stood and slowly crept closer to get an even better look but the mech gave him no time before he transformed and sped off. Steeljaw tumbled back from shock, screaming and threatening the cacophonous noise the mech made. What even was that? That form? It made no sense.

Determined despite his fear Steeljaw stumbled to his paws and tried to match speed. It wasn’t easy, he was no turbofox, but the stranger seemed to be keen on a straight line path despite a few curves here or there to avoid rocks and flora. Steeljaw's only real moment of pause was when he realized how far from his home he’d really gone. The land was starting to become flat and clean and the lights...he was going to the lights.

Eventually, the wilds started to fade away and there was nothing but flat lifeless metal and then just as quickly the life returned but all too different. The land screamed in the distance and everything turned to a blur of lights and sounds and fear. Steeljaw’s head told him to turn back around and run right back to the safety of his pack but his spark spurred him forward through the terrifying novelty of the city. Urged him to chase after the mesmerizing red taillights of the stranger.

When the mech finally stopped and transformed back to his bipedal form Steeljaw slunked off to the shadows and waited, watching every movement. He didn’t do much just walked around in a small circle to stretch his legs then headed up into one of the strange towers. Steeljaw didn’t move till he saw a faint light turn on high up in the tower, in retrospect it could have been any mech, any coincidence but he followed it anyway. Using the fire escape Steeljaw scaled the building and peered through the window into the apartment. There wasn’t much to see so Steeljaw’s curiosity pushed him further. The window wasn’t locked and after a few tries and getting his paws just right he managed to get the thing open.

Slowly sneaking into the strange place was all but impossible. As soon as he landed all four paws back on the ground a terrifyingly loud bang sent him skittering behind a chair as he narrowly missed a flash of hot red light. Steeljaw tried to calm his spark as he hid, just listening to the stranger go on angrily. This had been a mistake. He needed to get back! Before he could even think of a plan to get back to the window Steeljaw was snatched up by the cords of his neck.

Steeljaw immediately went to whimpering. It usually worked when they came across another pack of saberwolves or an aggressive turbofox. As apex predators there really was no reason to kill each other and adults didn’t need metal like new frames did. His apology seemed to work, the strange mech's optics turned soft and confused. Then he spoke.

“Where in the Pit did you come from? Did you really follow me all the way from Shockwave’s lab? Ugh~ Disgusting Predacons.”

Steeljaw didn’t understand a word. He didn’t sound happy though. He could only hope for pitiful. He tried to wriggle free but the stranger’s grip held firm.

“Oh, no you don’t! That slagger will kill me if I let one of his precious monstrosities get away. No, I’ll just keep you in the hall closet till he calls me out again for some stupid thing or another. Heh-he-hem~ It’s nothing personal but I don’t need you destroying my home. Don’t worry I’m sure it won’t be anything worse than what you’re used to.” As soon as the mech started to the closet a panic set in. Steeljaw didn’t know what was happening but he didn’t like it one bit! Snapping roughly at the servo holding him, Steeljaw fell to the floor in a heap as he was dropped to the floor. He knew he should have just ran to the window, left and never returned to the land of the lights again but instead, he transformed and did his best to hide under a table.

Steeljaw heard the stranger gasp, felt his whole demeanor suddenly change but he stayed clinging to the table leg. Wary and on edge.

“What in Primus name?” This time as the stranger neared it was slow and careful as if he was just as curious. They still seemed nervous too. “Are..you alright? I….didn’t realize you were a sparkling. Did you follow me home from the hospital? I didn’t know we had any….beastformers. That usually only happens to lost- Oh.” Steeljaw only chittered back when the mech got too close. He tried to snarl but it looked utterly ridiculous in his root form. Slowly the stranger got on his knees, his servo reaching out but not actively for anything. A safe offer.

“Left out in the wilds, were you? Well lucky for you I’m a medic. Do you want my help?” Steeljaw warily took the servo and let it pull him from under the table. Even on two peds he only stood to the stranger’s hip. Even like this, he was a runt. Like his sires though the stranger didn’t seem to care. “Hmm, you're so bare. Not getting much precious metal out there scavenging, are you? Shame. There’s probably still time to build up your protoform.” Steeljaw turned into the stranger’s soft caresses. Exhausted and hungry for the comfort of his pack he couldn’t help but cling to the other mech and nuzzle into the servo. Slowly the other mech cradled Steeljaw’s head. “Oh now, no need for that. Knock Out’s here and very sorry for trying to shoot you. We’ll get you right as old factory standards in no time.” Knock Out's joke was wasted on the new frame.

* * *

 

“He made good on his promise and oh so much more. He took me in. Taught me everything I needed to know. About science, history, life, you, Lieutenant Bumblebee. If it wasn’t for my dear mentor I’d likely still be out in the wilds so I think I owe him something considering he’s not doing so well thanks to the council. This will be our sanctuary once all of you are gone. It really will be a wonder once it’s all shiny and chrome. You’ll thank us down the line. Trust me." Steeljaw wasn't surprised Bee didn't seem sympathetic to his tale. The Autobot had nearly suffered the same fate as it were and he didn't turn into a murderous anarchist wretch. Steeljaw didn't need his sympathy though. His look of utter disappointed confusion was plenty enough. "I do hope you liked the story. I think I can hear your friends."


End file.
